If you ever wondered why many people say the US and Europe are irrelevant targets for new and existing technology companies compared to China, just watch this Le Web interview with Hugo Barra - who recently left Google's Android team to join Chinese device maker Xiaomi. In it, he compares China's most popular internet services with their western counterparts - and 'our' services pale in comparison to China's.

The most impressive number? China now has 500 million smartphone users. Six months ago, it was 'only' 250 million. That's the scale and growth we're talking about here. I often hear people say "yeah, but China is mostly poor people with a few rich ones on top" - well, these figures prove otherwise. And the growth is far, far from over.

That's why I always chuckle whenever a major western company only highlights US figures. It just means they missed that huge, fat, Chinese boat.

You can get Android HDMI dongles that cost far less than $100. Pair it with a bluetooth air-mouse+keyboard to transform your old TV into a smart TV with a familiar interface and apps (if you're already using android, that is).

You can get Android HDMI dongles that cost far less than $100. Pair it with a bluetooth air-mouse+keyboard to transform your old TV into a smart TV with a familiar interface and apps (if you're already using android, that is).

Yes, probably. But then, I didn't really attempt to argue with you. I just think the fact that you can upgrade any old TV to a TV smarter than any smart TV you can actually buy (at least until quite recently) is pretty cool.

I did just that a few months ago, and I'm still in love with it. That's probably the reason why i can't shut up about it It does everything a smart TV does, its upgradeable, it's got the Google Play store, I can program it if i want to. It takes an SD card and has a USB port. Whats not to love? Best of all, planned obsolescence is not part of the business model. You just know, any TV brand will release newer models, with upgraded software, which will not be available for your model.